Qantas had its very own dramatic 'snakes on a plane' episode on Thursday when a three metre python joined passengers onboard an early morning flight bound for Papua New Guinea.
But unlike Samuel L. Jackson's 2006 fictional Hollywood blockbuster in which a nest of vipers cause death and destruction onboard a jet, this reptile was only concerned with its own self preservation.
QF191 was approximately 20 minutes into its 6.15am flight from Cairns to Port Moresby when a woman suddenly pointed outside of the plane and declared to cabin crew: "My goodness there's a snake on the wing... there's its head and if you look closely you can see a fraction of its body too."
While numerous surrounding passengers on board the DHC-8 400 Series scoffed in disbelief, she was in fact correct.
According to University of Sydney snake expert, Professor Rick Shine, the specimen was no other than a "very uncomfortable" scrub python - the longest snake species in Australia."
"There's no way it could be anything else," he said. "They're common in North Queensland. They're ambush predators and if there are rodents anywhere nearby, they'll most likely be in the vicinity. They often find their way into tight ceiling spaces in houses, although I've never heard of one on a plane until now."
"I felt quite sad for it really. For the remainder of the flight, he was trying to pull himself back into the plane - even though he was fighting against 400kmh winds. The cabin crew told us that at cruising altitude, it was minus 12 degrees outside there - but not even that was able to finish him."
Mr Weber, who videoed the struggle, confirmed both pilots took it in turns to visit the rear of the plane and watch on with passengers as, several times, the snake somehow hauled itself back to safety, only to get dragged out again. As the snake slowly lost further grip, the wind repeatedly whipped it against the side of the plane, spraying blood across the engine.
"At that point, the pilot turned to us and said: "he should be dead"....yet even on decent, the snake was still fighting to get himself out of the situation he was in."Up until we've landed, I looked out the window and the thing was still moving."
That really should've justified landing to free him, instead of just gawking.
